'Disrespectful' images of Queen at Hayward

Off with his heads: New York artist George Condo with his nine portraits of the Queen being shown in London

George Condo has been called New York's coolest artist and provoked a storm of controversy with his "disrespectful" portrait of the Queen.

Now his images, which include nine portraits showing the monarch in an unflattering light, are going on show at the Hayward Gallery.

The portraits of Queen Elizabeth range from the sinister to the garish in a sequence produced at the same time as a 2006 commission which was condemned by the Daily Mail for making her look like a "toothless Cabbage Patch doll".

The exhibition is the first major retrospective in the UK for Condo, 54, who emerged in New York's East Village scene three decades ago with paintings resembling fake Old Masters.

Part of the crowd that included Andy Warhol, Jean-Michel Basquiat and Keith Haring, he went on to forge a style that is grotesque and witty. Friends and collectors include rapper Kanye West.

Ralph Rugoff, director of the Hayward Gallery, said it was delighted to be presenting the first major exhibition of Condo's work here. He said: "Condo's work has been a major influence on a younger generation of painters."

George Condo: Mental States. From tomorrow until January 8, 2012. Joint admission with Pipilotti Rist, £10.